Calvin B. Boze, Sr. (October 15, 1916 – June 18, 1970) was an American trumpeter and bandleader, best known for his

recordings A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, r ...

at the turn of the 1950s.

Biography

Born in

Trinity County, Texas Trinity County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, the population was 13,602. Its county seat is Groveton. The county is named for the Trinity River. Trinity County is included in the Huntsville, TX Micro ...

, Boze began playing in a high school band, which also featured

Illinois Jacquet Jean-Baptiste "Illinois" Jacquet (October 30, 1922 – July 22, 2004) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist, best remembered for his solo on "Flying Home", critically recognized as the first R&B saxophone solo. Although he was a pioneer of t ...

Arnett Cobb Arnett Cleophus Cobb (August 10, 1918 – March 24, 1989)
accessed July 2010. was an American tenor saxophonist, somet ...

, and singer Charles Brown. He went on to play in the bands of Marvin Johnson and then Milton Larkins, again with Jacquet and also

Eddie Vinson Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson (born Edward L. Vinson Jr.; December 18, 1917 – July 2, 1988) was an American jump blues, jazz, bebop and rhythm and blues, R&B alto saxophonist and blues shouter. He was nicknamed Cleanhead after an incident in whi ...

. After wartime service, he settled in Los Angeles and, as singer and trumpet player, took part in the development of the

jump blues Jump blues is an up-tempo style of blues, usually played by small groups and featuring horn instruments. It was popular in the 1940s and was a precursor of rhythm and blues and rock and roll. Appreciation of jump blues was renewed in the 1990s as ...

style, heavily influenced by

Louis Jordan Louis Thomas Jordan (July 8, 1908 – February 4, 1975) was an American saxophonist, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and bandleader who was popular from the late 1930s to the early 1950s. Known as " the King of the Jukebox", he earned his high ...

. Boze first recorded in 1945, but his biggest successes came with

Aladdin Records Aladdin Records was a record company and label founded in Los Angeles in 1945 by brothers Eddie and Leo Mesner. It was originally called Philo Records before changing its name in 1946. Aladdin was known for jazz, rhythm and blues, and rock mus ...

after 1949. In May 1950, he released "Safronia B", a classic if unsophisticated recording which, with its

refrain A refrain (from Vulgar Latin ''refringere'', "to repeat", and later from Old French ''refraindre'') is the line or lines that are repeated in music or in poetry — the "chorus" of a song. Poetic fixed forms that feature refrains include the vi ...

of ''"I surrender! I surrender!"'', epitomised the sense of fun in the West Coast music scene just before the dawn of

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from Africa ...

. It made No. 9 on the

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

R&B

chart A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can represent tabu ...

in June 1950, and has since been included on several anthologies of the period. The song was later recorded by

The Manhattan Transfer The Manhattan Transfer is a Grammy award–winning vocal group founded in 1969 that has explored a cappella, vocalese, swing, standards, Brazilian jazz, rhythm and blues, and pop music. There have been two editions of the Manhattan Transfer, ...

. He toured widely around this time, particularly with

Dinah Washington Dinah Washington (born Ruth Lee Jones; August 29, 1924 – December 14, 1963) was an American singer and pianist, who has been cited as "the most popular black female recording artist of the 1950s songs". Primarily a jazz vocalist, she performe ...

. However, his later recordings, including "Looped" and an early version of "

Lawdy Miss Clawdy "Lawdy Miss Clawdy" is a song by New Orleans singer/songwriter Lloyd Price that "grandly introduced '' The New Orleans Sound''". It was first recorded by Price in 1952 with Fats Domino and Dave Bartholomew during his first session for Art Rupe ...

", were less successful, and he did not record after 1952. He continued to play at jam sessions around Los Angeles, while also developing a career as a social worker and school teacher, before his death, aged 53, after prolonged ill health. He died in Los Angeles, California in June 1970.

Selected discography

* ''If You Ever Had The Blues (1945-1952)'' (

Jasmine Jasmine ( taxonomic name: ''Jasminum''; , ) is a genus of shrubs and vines in the olive family (Oleaceae). It contains around 200 species native to tropical and warm temperate regions of Eurasia, Africa, and Oceania. Jasmines are widely cultiva ...

, 2022) everything Boze recorded is included in this CD.

References

External links

Rockabilly.nl website – biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boze, Calvin 1916 births 1970 deaths American rhythm and blues musicians Jump blues musicians American trumpeters American male trumpeters American bandleaders Musicians from Texas 20th-century American musicians 20th-century trumpeters 20th-century American male musicians 20th-century African-American musicians

Biography

Selected discography

See also

References

External links